Norwegian animation “Pesta,” directed by Hanne Berkaak, will head to the Frontières Platform in May. Directed at genre film professionals, the event is organized by the Fantasia International Film Festival with the Cannes’ Marché du Film.
The film, set in 1349 during the outbreak of the Black Plague, will see two teenagers, Astrid and Eilev, fighting for their forbidden love among the apocalypse as Astrid, a nobleman’s daughter, struggles with her growing desire for “the outcast heathen.”
Granted development funding from the Norwegian Film Institute, “Pesta” is produced by Mikrofilm’s Tonje Skar Reiersen and Lise Fearnley. It’s also named after a shadowy figure from Norwegian folklore, a personification of the plague itself.
“She was depicted as an old woman travelling from farm to farm, carrying a rake and a broom. Where she used her rake, some would survive. Where she swept her broom, everyone would die. Dark stuff,...
The film, set in 1349 during the outbreak of the Black Plague, will see two teenagers, Astrid and Eilev, fighting for their forbidden love among the apocalypse as Astrid, a nobleman’s daughter, struggles with her growing desire for “the outcast heathen.”
Granted development funding from the Norwegian Film Institute, “Pesta” is produced by Mikrofilm’s Tonje Skar Reiersen and Lise Fearnley. It’s also named after a shadowy figure from Norwegian folklore, a personification of the plague itself.
“She was depicted as an old woman travelling from farm to farm, carrying a rake and a broom. Where she used her rake, some would survive. Where she swept her broom, everyone would die. Dark stuff,...
- 4/5/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
A meaty domestic drama with a deliciously dark twist, animated short film “Steakhouse” offers a tableside view of what Slovenian filmmaker Špela Čadež calls “psychological violence.”
The 10-minute short, which has garnered more than 30 awards on its 150-plus-festival run and was recently shortlisted for an Oscar, uses smart cinematic storytelling to unspool the story of married couple Franc and Liza.
Liza, detained at work, anxiously hurries home for a special birthday dinner that has been timed to her exact arrival. Increasingly frenzied jazz (by Slovenian experimental lo-fi musician Andrej Fon’s Olfamož) floods the kitchen as Franc’s meticulous preparations boil over into rage at Liza’s tardiness. Spitefully ruining the meal, Franc fills their small apartment with billowing clouds of toxicity, then forces Liza to witness his violent mastication—rendered in hideous closeup — but his maliciousness proves to be his own undoing. No spoilers here, but the ending lands...
The 10-minute short, which has garnered more than 30 awards on its 150-plus-festival run and was recently shortlisted for an Oscar, uses smart cinematic storytelling to unspool the story of married couple Franc and Liza.
Liza, detained at work, anxiously hurries home for a special birthday dinner that has been timed to her exact arrival. Increasingly frenzied jazz (by Slovenian experimental lo-fi musician Andrej Fon’s Olfamož) floods the kitchen as Franc’s meticulous preparations boil over into rage at Liza’s tardiness. Spitefully ruining the meal, Franc fills their small apartment with billowing clouds of toxicity, then forces Liza to witness his violent mastication—rendered in hideous closeup — but his maliciousness proves to be his own undoing. No spoilers here, but the ending lands...
- 1/11/2023
- by Jennifer Wolfe
- Indiewire
Shoddy feature-length Russian animation is neither funny nor interesting – although my seven-year-old begged to differ
Some of the finest animating talents in cinema history have emerged from Russia and the Soviet Union – insect-manipulator Vladislav Starevich, the poetic peer of Andrei Tarkovsky, Yuri Norstein, even recent Oscar nominee Konstantin Bronzit, to name but a few. How soul-destroyingly sad it is to see such a legacy besmirched by execrable trash like this shoddy feature-length cartoon. Co-written and directed by Max Fadeev, who also composed the anodyne soundtrack (he also has a Hollywood career as a songwriter on the side), this NutriBullet puree of myths, fairytales and cultural appropriation revolves around a young boy named Savva (voiced by Milla Jovovich) who goes on a quest to save his village, palling up along the way with a white wolf (Will Chase), a mosquito voiced by Joe Pesci and some other representatives of indeterminate species.
Some of the finest animating talents in cinema history have emerged from Russia and the Soviet Union – insect-manipulator Vladislav Starevich, the poetic peer of Andrei Tarkovsky, Yuri Norstein, even recent Oscar nominee Konstantin Bronzit, to name but a few. How soul-destroyingly sad it is to see such a legacy besmirched by execrable trash like this shoddy feature-length cartoon. Co-written and directed by Max Fadeev, who also composed the anodyne soundtrack (he also has a Hollywood career as a songwriter on the side), this NutriBullet puree of myths, fairytales and cultural appropriation revolves around a young boy named Savva (voiced by Milla Jovovich) who goes on a quest to save his village, palling up along the way with a white wolf (Will Chase), a mosquito voiced by Joe Pesci and some other representatives of indeterminate species.
- 3/31/2016
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Chis Marker's Chat écoutant la musiqueThere are dog people and there are cat people, this we know, and there are even people who claim to be of both—though latent sympathies remain unspoken, like with a parent and which child is their favorite. With the Vienna Film Festival welcoming me with a tumbling collection of dog and cat short films spanning cinema's history—the Austrian Film Museum, an essential destination each year collaborating with the Viennale, is hosting a “a brief zoology of cinema” throughout the festivities—it is clear that filmmakers, too, have their preference. Silent cinema decidedly prefers the more easily trained and exhibited canine, with 1907’s surreal favorite Les chiens savants as a certain kind of cruel pinnacle. For the cats, Chris Marker, already the presiding figure over so much in 20th century art, I think we can easily claim is the cine-laureate. One need not know...
- 11/8/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
Leading Russian animator whose witty films verged on the surreal
In the face of Walt Disney's worldwide dominance throughout most of the 20th century, European animators forged their own style and content. Fyodor Khitruk, who has died aged 95, was able to find new possibilities for animation in the Soviet Union, but only after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 and Nikita Khrushchev's subsequent speech attacking Stalinism. The resulting "thaw" was the beginning of a renaissance of Soviet animation after two decades of socialist realism and fairytales. Khitruk took his inspiration not from Disney but from the cartoons of the moribund Upa (United Productions of America) studio, set up by a breakaway group of Disney animators in 1943.
As a director – in charge of the general design and concept – Khitruk developed a freer, less lush, more economical and more contemporary art style than the naturalistic graphic look and sentimentality of Disney.
In the face of Walt Disney's worldwide dominance throughout most of the 20th century, European animators forged their own style and content. Fyodor Khitruk, who has died aged 95, was able to find new possibilities for animation in the Soviet Union, but only after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 and Nikita Khrushchev's subsequent speech attacking Stalinism. The resulting "thaw" was the beginning of a renaissance of Soviet animation after two decades of socialist realism and fairytales. Khitruk took his inspiration not from Disney but from the cartoons of the moribund Upa (United Productions of America) studio, set up by a breakaway group of Disney animators in 1943.
As a director – in charge of the general design and concept – Khitruk developed a freer, less lush, more economical and more contemporary art style than the naturalistic graphic look and sentimentality of Disney.
- 12/10/2012
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
From Scott Pilgrim vs the World to Back to the Future, the critics have had their say – now it's your turn
It's that time of year again – the season of mulled wine, mince pies and the critic's best-of list. Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks and the Observer's Philip French have already weighed in, and on Tuesday, guardian.co.uk/film asked you for your highlights of the cinematic year.
No surprise over the film that attracted most comment, positive and negative – Inception, the Christopher Nolan sci-fi blockbuster with Leonardo DiCaprio. While calling it "the obvious choice", @orangew listed its virtues: "A technical marvel; a non-sequel, original property; some brain-stretching concepts (even if you're a naysayer, you have to concede it at least tried); and a critical and commercial success – a rare diamond indeed, and from a British director too." In agreement was @tobyjenn, asserting it had "technical nous above and beyond its challengers,...
It's that time of year again – the season of mulled wine, mince pies and the critic's best-of list. Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks and the Observer's Philip French have already weighed in, and on Tuesday, guardian.co.uk/film asked you for your highlights of the cinematic year.
No surprise over the film that attracted most comment, positive and negative – Inception, the Christopher Nolan sci-fi blockbuster with Leonardo DiCaprio. While calling it "the obvious choice", @orangew listed its virtues: "A technical marvel; a non-sequel, original property; some brain-stretching concepts (even if you're a naysayer, you have to concede it at least tried); and a critical and commercial success – a rare diamond indeed, and from a British director too." In agreement was @tobyjenn, asserting it had "technical nous above and beyond its challengers,...
- 12/24/2010
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Take One Action, Edinburgh & Glasgow
Want to save the world but not sure where to start? This festival should at least give you some pointers, if not rouse you into action. Its mission is to bring together audiences, film-makers and activists and to highlight pressing global issues through film. There's no shortage of material. Big issues such as global warming, hunger, the oil industry and Israel-Palestine are well covered in fiction and documentary, but it's not necessarily all bad news. There are inspirational stories, such as Persona Non Grata, about a crusader for slum justice in Venezuela, or classic doc Powaqqatsi with a live score, and even a Namibian HIV drama, in which the audience decides the ending.
Filmhouse, Edinburgh & Glasgow Film Theatre, Thu to 5 Oct; visit takeoneaction.org.uk
Branchage Film Festival, Jersey
There aren't that many cinemas on Jersey, but this festival doesn't need them anyway. When it...
Want to save the world but not sure where to start? This festival should at least give you some pointers, if not rouse you into action. Its mission is to bring together audiences, film-makers and activists and to highlight pressing global issues through film. There's no shortage of material. Big issues such as global warming, hunger, the oil industry and Israel-Palestine are well covered in fiction and documentary, but it's not necessarily all bad news. There are inspirational stories, such as Persona Non Grata, about a crusader for slum justice in Venezuela, or classic doc Powaqqatsi with a live score, and even a Namibian HIV drama, in which the audience decides the ending.
Filmhouse, Edinburgh & Glasgow Film Theatre, Thu to 5 Oct; visit takeoneaction.org.uk
Branchage Film Festival, Jersey
There aren't that many cinemas on Jersey, but this festival doesn't need them anyway. When it...
- 9/17/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Inventive stop-motion animator and puppet maker who garnered a worldwide reputation
Kihachiro Kawamoto, who has died aged 85, was best known in Japan for creating the vast array of puppets populating the live-action historical television series Romance of the Three Kingdoms (1982-84) and Tale of Heike (1993-95). He was also highly regarded internationally for haunting stop-motion animations, such as Dojoji Temple (1976) and House of Flame (1979), in which the figures are manipulated and photographed frame-by-frame so that they appear to move on their own.
Like his one-time collaborator Tadanari Okamoto, with whom he toured his independent films from 1972 to 1980, his exercises in stop-motion puppetry were influenced by European practices. But Kawamoto's ornate works are also deeply rooted in Japanese folklore and aesthetics, with an overarching philosophy based on Buddhism. They are a powerful reminder of the more artisanal traditions within Japanese animation that are often ignored by western commentators' focus on commercial anime.
Kihachiro Kawamoto, who has died aged 85, was best known in Japan for creating the vast array of puppets populating the live-action historical television series Romance of the Three Kingdoms (1982-84) and Tale of Heike (1993-95). He was also highly regarded internationally for haunting stop-motion animations, such as Dojoji Temple (1976) and House of Flame (1979), in which the figures are manipulated and photographed frame-by-frame so that they appear to move on their own.
Like his one-time collaborator Tadanari Okamoto, with whom he toured his independent films from 1972 to 1980, his exercises in stop-motion puppetry were influenced by European practices. But Kawamoto's ornate works are also deeply rooted in Japanese folklore and aesthetics, with an overarching philosophy based on Buddhism. They are a powerful reminder of the more artisanal traditions within Japanese animation that are often ignored by western commentators' focus on commercial anime.
- 9/5/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
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